In fact, I’m ecstatic the ball club in my adopted city has picked him up. I’m only a two hour drive away from seeing his bald head gleaming along the sidelines. His menacing, dinosaur-like glare gives me goosebumps.

Goosebumps in the way of R.L. Stine. God, I love Scott Skiles.

And R.L. Stine.

Thanks to John Hammond, Skiles is coaching the very team that drafted him as a player. The man can help the lowly Milwaukee Bucks win. In each of Skiles’ full seasons, his teams all finished over .500. He can coach and it’s exactly what the Milwaukee franchise needs.

Is Skiles a rethread? Yes, but lots of other NBA coaches are. If Larry Brown’s name comes up every now and then in the coaching carousel, those same teams should do their due diligence on Skiles.

John Hammond is Joe Dumars’ protege. Hammond can allow Skiles to resuscitate the franchise much like how Dumars used Rick Carlisle to jump start the Detroit Pistons.

The knock on Skiles is that he’s an old-school coach; he’s too tough and he doesn’t mess around. Every professional sport is a players’ league so Skiles’ style can create dissonance within a team. But all of Skiles’ drawbacks double as his strong points.

John Hammond is no fool. He’s seen Larry Brown, Flip Saunders and Carlisle coach. Non-player positions in the NBA are like revolving doors. Given the unpredictable nature of Hammond’s position, it says something that he’s willing to put his eggs in the Scott Skiles basket.

The man is one tough cookie. He demands as much from his players as he does from himself. Jeff Van Gundy once said that Skiles was one of the best-prepared coaches in the NBA come game day.

Skiles owns a 281-251 record as a coach with 15 playoff wins. This may have been a questionable move if the Bucks were an established, playoff team. But they’re not. They have no identity and forging a defensive mindset is the way to go.

Maybe Charlie Villanueva will think he’s playing for Jim Calhoun. That way, he’ll forget that he’s supposed to lose every game.

The former Coach of the Year has been linked with potential jobs opening up after this season. The Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks (with John Hammond pushing) are among the teams that are interested. And this will also allow Carlisle to join Ben Wallace in a tour of the Central Division.

The word around Chicago is that Carlisle is a good coach but is too much of a Skiles look-a-like. I resent that statement because the man looks like Jim Carrey.

An interesting trend can be found when looking at the record of Carlisle’s six seasons in the league. None of his teams have ever improved record-wise.

Clearly, something is up. Generally speaking, the longer someone is with an organization, the better they become. As one goes further along on the learning curve, they get more familiar with their position. Players come to know what to expect from their coach. The coach, in turn, gradually learns how to motivate his players. With all other things remaining equal, a coach of Carlisle’s caliber should have shown improvement.

I don’t want to come to conclusions but is it a case of players burning out on the coach? If so, the Bulls might want to steer clear because they’re still salty off Scott Skiles.

In Carlisle’s first season at the helm, he makes his predecessors look like idiots. If there’s one thing that can be said about Rick Carlisle, it’s that he will give you an excellent first season record.

Carlisle took over the Detroit Pistons job from George Irvine in 2002. The Pistons went from 32-50 and into the lottery under Irvine to 50-32 and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals under Carlisle.

Same deal in Indiana. The Pacers went 48-34 in Isiah Thomas’ last season while losing in the first round of the playoffs. Under Carlisle the next season, the Pacers went 61-21 with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The man can get you there but he won’t keep you there very long. The Milwaukee Bucks need a culture change. Their young players need to experience winning and the atmosphere of the playoffs. Michael Redd has only really played in three of his post-season campaigns, so their veteran leadership isn’t exactly savvy in that regard. If they wait any longer, it might be “next year…” for a long time.